State historical marker to pay tribute to Houston railroad innovator

When Englishman James Robert Cade and his wife, Annie, moved to Harrisburg in 1873, the Houston area was becoming a major center for shipping through its port and rail connections to inland areas.

Cade brought with him years of experience in the family trade building railroad cars. Back then, railcars – cabooses, dining cars, box cars, practically everything but the locomotive -- were made of wood.

That was about to change under Cade's direction.

Because of his innovations in the railroad industry, Cade will be honored with a state marker Saturday afternoon at Glenwood Cemetery.

Working for the Galveston, Harrisburg & San Antonio Railway Company and the Texas & New Orleans Railway Company, both soon acquired by Southern Pacific, Cade was instrumental in leading the conversion of rail cars made of oak or hickory to metal. In turn this extended the life of railcars and allowed them to transport heavier loads.

Cade's accomplishments left an impression on his co-workers that was hard to forget. Great-granddaughter DeEtte DuPree Nesbitt recalled meeting some of his former co-workers when she went to work for an oilfield services company in 1963.

"I heard what a force he was with the railroads in Houston and what a pleasure he was to work with," Nesbitt said.

Janet Wagner, chairwoman of the Harris County Historical Commission and researcher into Cade's life, said much of his innovations in the railroad industry became lost over time and have only recently come to light. In his day, she said, Cade kept a low-profile.

"He's not everywhere in the news media, to speak of," Wagner said.

Cade also co-founded St. Mary's Episcopal Church in the Fifth Ward and was a lifelong Mason. Both Nesbitt and Wagner added that he was known for his frugality, keep detailed records of his finances to the point of noting when he took the family to see the "moving pictures."

Nesbitt said that Cade opted to live in the Fifth Ward instead of the more tonier parts of Houston so that he could stay close to his job with Southern Pacific, then Houston's largest employer.